The Information Highway in Contemporary Magazine Narrative

Narrative is important in constructing social reality. It defines a coherent world within which social action occurs. Narrative analysis is a powerful technique for revealing assumptions that define social settings. This study employed narrative analysis to examine a maximum variation sample of magazine articles about the information highway directed at demographically and ethnically diverse audiences. Given the information highway metaphor, our purpose was to reveal the worldviews within which communication infrastructures develop. Regardless of the intended audience, a sense of powerlessness pervades narratives about the information highway. Although slight resistance is depicted, the world is portrayed as autonomous economic forces toward which individuals must adjust their actions. We argue that the narrative impoverishment of discourse that employs the information highway metaphor closes of alternate possibilities for social development. We discuss criteria for narratives that present communication technologies in a socially responsive manner.